While the console was called the Sega Genesis in North America, the console was released to most of the rest of the world as the Sega Mega Drive. The reason for the name change in the US was due to the trademark for "Mega Drive" being owned in the US by a company known as "Mega Drive Systems", which specialized in storage devices for computers.

In 1994, Sega launched Sega Channel, a service where users could download 20 Sega Genesis games every month through their cable company's "On Demand" service. Sega Channel lasted until 1998, the end of the 16-Bit generation, preceding the Xbox Live Arcade by over 10 years.